Bay Area ranks high for air quality

I guess all those Spare the Air days in the Bay Area are doing us some good. A new study shows the Bay Area ranks No. 15 on a list of the top 25 metro regions with the best air quality.

The study, conducted by scientific engineering technology company Honeywell, ranked metro cities based on pollen counts, ozone concentrations, public smoking laws, green initiatives and other factors.

Two California cities made the list with the Bay Area coming in at No. 15 and Modesto coming in at No. 16.

Compare this with our east coast sister city, New York City, which definitely didn’t make the list and has high amounts of bacteria, pollen, fungus, tire rubber, dead skin cells, cooking fat and carbon emissions in the air, according to the NY Daily News.

The news comes as the Bay Area continues towards improving air quality and greener building. This week San Francisco plays host to the Greenbuild conference which brings together thousands of contractors, builders, and architects to discuss better ways to employ more environmentally-friendly practices.

Also, greener regulations are being put into place in order to improve air quality and prevent natural disasters like the recent Chevron refinery fire in Richmond. The Bay Area Air Quality Management District met last month to decide on new rules and actions to put into place in order to track pollution from refineries.

So, who knows, maybe next year we’ll be No. 10 on the list?